Wolfsbane
by prisoner394
Summary: When the events of a full moon nearly two months ago come back to haunt Remus, Sirius tries to help - and ends up sleeping rough under a bench in Muggle London. With the help of Lily Evans, and the hindrance of James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, Remus makes it his mission to rescue Sirius. However, not all goes to plan. Marauders' Era - eventual RL/SB. Please R/R!
1. Murderer

**A/N - So this is my first multi-chapter fic - it started off as a oneshot, but then it grew... It will more than likely end up becoming a Wolfstar (Remus/Sirius, in case you've been living under a rock), so if you don't like slash then stop after the first six or so chapters - or just don't read it at all. This first chapter is quite (fingers crossed) sad and angsty, but the rest of the story isn't like that so much.**

**So yeah - enjoy! And remember, reviews are as good as chocolate. Ok, maybe not quite as good - but still, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or the Potterverse, or any of the characters inhabiting it. Unfortunately. All credit to JK Rowling.**

**Warning - a bit of mild swearing, and a bit in further chapters which may be a little more than 'mild'.**

**- 394 :)**

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**WOLFSBANE**

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**Chapter 1**

**Murderer**

'Remus?'

The Remus in question was so surprised at the voice he was hearing that he almost stopped crying.

Almost.

'Remus, I know you're in there somewhere. No, I'm not about to rip open your curtains and see if you really are. I know you are, though. Merlin, it would be awkward if you weren't. Remus… Moony, if you're in there, just give me a signal, ok? Let me know.'

Too tired to play this game, Remus threw open the curtain. 'Sirius, go away.'

Sirius shrugged. 'Nah,' he said, sitting down on his own bed, opposite Remus's. 'What would the fun be in that?'

Remus raised an eyebrow, finally looking up at his friend through tear-stained eyes. What was he doing here? 'Sirius, I've told you. Just go away.'

'Why should I? I told you that plenty of times back in first year, remember? Back when Jamie hated me for being a Black.'

Why wouldn't he go away?

Sirius changed his tone again, so that it betrayed a hint of emotion. Well – more than a hint, which would have been unusual for Sirius, if Remus didn't know him better. 'Look, Remus, this is a thing called helping your friend when they're hurt. So tell me. Why weren't you at breakfast this morning?'

Remus wiped another tear off of his cheek, grunting sarcastically. 'Why do you think?'

'Moony, this isn't the time for sarcasm.'

'Any time is the time for sarcasm.'

'Please, Moony.'

Remus sighed. He should probably just get this over with: then maybe Sirius would leave him to his misery. Then, finally, he could have some peace to give himself what he deserved.

Sirius was sighing internally. Remus was obviously in one of those self-hating moods which he seemed to get after the full moon. Wait – wasn't it only a few days until full moon? And it had never been like this before…

'Moony, just tell me. Are you feeling guilty about the whole Animagi thing again? Because trust me, I'm not joking when I say-'

'It's not that,' Remus snapped. Sirius sighed out loud this time. 'Then what is it, you idiot? Just tell me and then maybe I can help!'

_I don't need help._ Remus couldn't help but think that this was stupid. A waste of time. He could be…

_Just show him the article_.

He wasn't sure where the voice came from, or why he was following its orders. But then again, where was the harm in doing what it said?

Sirius didn't quite catch the newspaper; it landed beside him. _Best not to tell James about that._ He'd be teased for weeks – Sirius Black, famous chaser, unable to catch a bloody newspaper on short notice.

Remus was speaking again.

'Open it… Open it to page three. Read the main article.'

Frowning, Sirius did as Remus said. Page three of the newspaper was filled by a single article. Looking up at Remus and wondering why a newspaper article was making him cry, Sirius began to read.

'_Man, 42, arrested on suspicion of murder of Tania Greene, aged ten years old. Nearly two months after-'_

Remus was shaking uncontrollably, the tears flowing down his face. Sirius slammed the paper down beside him, narrowing his eyes in disbelief.

'Look, Remy, it's ok to get upset over things that happen. But these things happen all the time. You can't let them affect you – not like-'

'IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!'

Remus was out of control, Sirius could see that. He'd stood up, still shaking, still crying. Casting a quick 'muffliato', Sirius, too, got up. Surely Remus-

Remus whipped round to face his friend. 'You don't understand! You never will!'

'Well, maybe if you told me what was going on-'

Remus nearly punched the wall in frustration. 'You want to know? You want to know why I'm like this?'

'Remus…'

'It's because,' Remus carried on, his voice deliberately slowed down and almost dangerously soft. 'I know that the man in the Muggle newspaper you just read is innocent.'

Sirius was confused. 'Well – that's great-'

'YOU DON'T GET IT, DO YOU? I KNOW HE'S INNOCENT BECAUSE…'

Remus sank to the floor, sobbing. Sirius had no idea of what to do. Should he…?

'I know he's innocent,' Remus continued, his voice now barely above a whisper, 'because the day that girl died was a full moon. And on that particular full moon… No-one else knows that on that night I broke out of my garden shed.'

Sirius felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. 'Oh, Moony…'

Remus was up again, throwing his possessions everywhere, scratching his face so that it was red and raw like after a transformation. Sirius could barely watch – was this what being an Animagus would be like? Watching his friend go through all this every month?

'I'M A MURDERER, SIRIUS, don't you see? I've RUINED A LIFE – two lives, in fact! More than that! And I can't do anything about it, because they can't ever know what I am! I'm a monster, I've told you all along – do you have enough proof now?! Do you realise now why we can't ever be friends? I deserve to be separated from everyone, I don't deserve _friends_, I DESERVE TO DIE.'

Remus turned to his friend, his face full of tears, an unfathomable look in his eyes. Sirius could almost see the wolf's features in the boy's face.

'Kill me, Sirius. Kill me now. I deserve it. I don't deserve this life. Why would anyone ever give someone a life when they would just be miserable? Hey? What kind of a _God _would do that? Please, Sirius.' He was practically begging by now. 'Kill me. I'm a murderer, I'm a monster. At the very least accept that we can't be friends. Please.'

Sirius was shocked. Remus, innocent, smart, sarcastic Remus – begging for death. He had to be kidding…

He shook himself. What was he doing? His friend was on the floor, in front of him, grovelling, and he was just stood there, open mouthed, still having not replied.

'No.'

Remus looked up at him. 'What?'

'I'm not a murderer, Remus. And neither are you.'

'Did you not hear what I just-'

'I heard every word of it. Loud and clear. Which is why you must listen to me.'

Sirius had no idea of where he was going with this. Then again, he normally spoke without really thinking, and it had never failed him before, had it?

'Moony, is there anything that can stop this from happening?'

Remus looked confused – shocked – but only for a second. 'There is… something... Why are you asking me this?'

'Never mind that. What is it called?'

Remus frowned. What was Sirius doing? 'It's called Wolfsbane Potion. It's a very recent discovery, which is why it's so expensive. I could never afford it, but- Sirius, why are you asking me this?'

'I'm asking because I care about you. _What? _There's more to me than the girls and the drink, Moony, you know that. Now listen to me, where can I find this… Wolf-main thing?'

'Wolfsbane. They won't sell it anywhere on Diagon, and St Mungo's don't treat people like me. Maybe Knockturn Alley, somewhere… Sirius, you're not thinking of…?'

'I'm thinking of lots of different things, Moony, most of them involving rude words and things you don't want to hear me say about a certain Fenrir Greyba- sorry.'

Remus shook his head: even the name he most feared had no effect on him at a time like this. There was a short silence, during which he could almost hear Sirius's brain whirling.

'I… I went to her funeral, you know.'

'You what?' Sirius snapped, coming out of his reverie.

'Stayed in the shadows. Hung back. I had to pay my respects… Sorry, I'm complaining excessively now, aren't I?'

'Moony, are you seriously telling me that the only time you've gate-crashed is at a funeral?'

'Siri, are you seriously telling me you've only just worked out what kind of a person I am?'

'Don't call me Siri.'

'Sorry.'

Silence.

'Look at the state of you, Moony. You're a mess… Come on. There's Quidditch practice today. And we can go to the kitchens, get you some chocolate. Sounds good, right?'

'…I guess.'

Taking Sirius's hand, Remus forced himself to stand up. They'd been stood there for a while, contemplating the situation, when a new voice disturbed the silence.

'Sirius, you're late for- Holy Merlin, what's happened?'

A quick, pleading look from Remus told Sirius not to give anything away.

'Nothing, Jim. Nothing. I'm coming, just tell Roskell I'll be a bit late.'

'Don't call me Jim.'

'Whatever.'


	2. Mirror

**A/N - So here's Chapter 2, along with the first appearances of the other Marauders. Thank you to everyone who read/followed Chapter 1!**

**Reviews are life.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - JK Rowling does. **

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**WOLFSBANE**

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**Chapter 2**

**Mirror**

'REMUS JOHN LUPIN, YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER _GIT_!'

The first thought which went through Remus's mind as he woke up was _who needs an alarm clock when you've got a Potter_?

'What do you want?' he mumbled, half-asleep, his words slurred from weariness.

'Oh, good, you're awake.'

And with that, a very angry James Potter ripped open Remus's four-poster bed curtains, brandishing an extravagant, extremely girlish mirror in his face.

'You see this?'

'What… er… yeah…'

James slapped him in the face.

'…Ow…'

'Do you see this mirror?'

'Yes, I do, it's right in my face-'

James ignored him. 'Do you see what's wrong with it?'

'Er… It makes you look like a girl?'

That comment earned him a second slap. 'Remus, please.'

'What do you want with me?'

'I want to know _where the bloody hell my best friend has gone._'

'WHAT?!'

For the first time in his life, Remus jumped out of bed. Sirius's bed was empty. His sheets were perfectly neat, as though someone hadn't wanted to look like they'd left in a hurry.

'He won't talk to me through the goddamn mirror… I'm worried, Remus…'

Remus was racking his brain, trying to think of an explanation. 'Maybe...'

Eureka.

'He's always said about finding a girl, right? Maybe… You know…'

'EXACTLY, you idiot. I want to know.'

'…James. Really?'

Within seconds of waking up, Peter had already found the words to sum up what Remus was thinking. Sometimes Remus wondered exactly how and why his friend got bad scores in most tests.

'Look, James, if it is that, then surely-'

'_James Potter.'_

There was a collective intake of breath as James reached for his discarded mirror, not even bothering to take it over to where the others could see it.

'SIRIUS!'

'James, _shut up._'

'Oh, sorry, am I going to wake her up?'

'_Her?_'

'Sirius, you know exactly what I mean. How was it? Did you really-'

'James, please, shut up or take that conversation where we innocent-minded people can't hear it.'

…And there Peter went again, summing up Remus's thoughts.

'Jamie, do you mean what I think you mean?'

'Of course I do.'

'…Because that's not what I was doing last night.'

Remus couldn't quite believe that James looked physically disappointed. 'But-'

'James, could you pass this over to Remus for me? I need to talk to him.'

James turned to Remus. 'I knew you had something to do with him being missing!'

'…Right.'

'You really are a total git.'

'_James!_' That was Sirius.

'Oh, sorry.'

It was hardly a case of passing Remus the mirror – more like shoving it in his face for the second time that morning. But at least Remus could talk to Sirius now.

Locking himself in the bathroom and casting another muffliato spell, he took out the mirror.

'They're trying to listen in,' was the first thing that Sirius said.

Now that he thought about it, Remus could hear James and Peter stumbling about as usual, trying to eavesdrop.

'How do we get rid of them?' Remus hissed.

'Undo the muffliato,' replied Sirius. 'I'll get rid of Pete. You do James.'

Confused, Remus undid his previous spell. Sirius cleared his throat.

'So then, Moony,' he said, in an obviously forced loud voice, 'did I tell you what she said to me then? Oh, it was priceless, she-'

'Yes, whatever, but we're getting off topic,' Remus replied, cottoning on, at the sound of Peter blanching and leaving. 'I was telling you about the Charms homework he set us - were you confused by-'

By that point, James had also audibly given up and left. Re-casting the muffliato, Remus turned once again to Sirius's face in the mirror.

'Remus-'

'Sirius, where the hell are you?'

'I...'

'I don't care how long it takes. Just explain.'

'I went to the kitchen-'

'You are _kidding me-_'

'No, Remus, there's more than that to it. I asked one of the house elves to apparate me to London.'

'Hang on a second. You're in London?!'

'No, they got it wrong and we wound up in Germany.'

Remus's eyes widened in an almost funny way, Sirius thought.

'Of course I'm in London, Loony.'

Remus couldn't help but smile at the rare use of the first year nickname. It had changed to Moony shortly after they confronted him about being a werewolf; Remus still smiled at the memory.

_Anyway. London._

'Sirius, why in Merlin's name are you in London?'

'Moony, how do you do so well in lessons?'

Remus raised an eyebrow.

'I'm in London to buy you some Wolfsbane, idiot.'

Remus buried his face in his hands. 'Sirius…'

The very thought of it was ridiculous. Sirius knew that. Remus knew that Sirius knew that. Sirius knew that Remus knew that Sirius…

The logical part of Remus's mind was going into overdrive. There were too many questions; too many outcomes; too many possibilities to even think about. And this was Sirius – he could be doing anything…

'Sirius, you have got to get yourself out of there.'

'…That's the thing, Moony. I… er… can't.'

He'd known this would have happened. Taking a deep breath, Remus buried his face in one hand. 'Explain.'

'So… I… er… got to Diagon Alley and started off following my plan.'

'Which was…?'

'Well… First I went to Gringotts, to my parents' vault.'

Remus's eyes widened in shock for the second time in one conversation.

'…You're joking…'

Sirius shook his head. 'I'm perfectly serious, you know I am.'

'Sirius, now is _not _the time for that pun.'

Sirius shrugged. 'I sent the house elf back to Hogwarts – she didn't like it in Gringotts – and took the money from the vault – I still have access to it. They hate that.

'Anyway, it was all going well. But then I realised the goblins were looking at me funny. And then…'

Remus knew where this was going. And it wasn't sounding good – even by Sirius's standards.

Sirius took a deep breath.

'They'd realised I wasn't meant to be there. So I ran. I ran a lot – right down Diagon Alley and through the Leaky Cauldron and into Muggle London. You know me – once I start running, I can't stop. So I didn't- Moony, stop sighing. It's getting on my nerves.'

'I'll stop sighing when you stop doing things that make me sigh.'

'Touché.'

Remus still had his head buried in one hand. 'Carry on.'

'Er… Remus?'

'Yes?'

'Tell me… Do Muggles have pubs as well?'

Remus pulled a face which, in any other situation, would have made Sirius fall over laughing.

'Of course they do, you idiot – oh, don't tell me…'

'Er…'

'What did you do?'

'I thought it was the Leaky Cauldron, I honestly did. So I went in.'

'_Sirius…_'

'I…'

'Didn't you realise?'

'Not until it was too late. A waitress came over to me and… er…'

'Let me guess. She was hot?'

'I guess, but that didn't really matter. She asked if I wanted a drink-'

'Wait, what?!'

'I… er… didn't want any difficulties, so I'm wearing my adult Muggle clothes.'

This was getting worse by the second. Remus knew which clothes Sirius meant – the ones which made even Remus doubt that his best friend was underage.

'So then…?'

'I honestly don't remember anything. I woke up under a bench with a massive headache and dirty clothes and got out this mirror immediately.'

'…Right.'

'Yeah.'

'So...'

'So.'

Remus scratched his head and sighed again. 'Stay exactly where you are.'

'What?!'

'I'm coming for you.'

Sirius's eyes widened. 'Remus, you can't-'

'Don't tell me what I can and can't do. You went to London because of me, so it's my responsibility to get you back to Hogwarts. No-' – Sirius had started protesting again – 'I know what you're going to say, and it's going to be bullshit. Just wait there.'

'Did you just say bullshit?'

'Bullshit.'

Sirius raised his eyebrows. 'Wow.'

Remus smirked. 'I'll be about an hour. Stay there. Don't move.'

'You're treating me like a dog.'

'You practically are a dog sometimes… You should think about that. Animagi and all. Obviously you shouldn't be doing that anyway, but-'

'Moony, whether you like it or not, we're becoming Animagi.'

'Fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you in two years' time when you can't go back and-'

'Shut up.' Sirius took out his pureblood's pocket watch – his family didn't know that he still had it, and never would – looked at it, and pocketed it again. 'You have an hour. I'm waiting.'

And with that, the mirror went blank and all Remus could see was his own reflection staring back at him, wondering how on earth he was going to find Sirius in Muggle London.

Not that Remus didn't know Muggle areas of Britain – he knew some parts of Wales like the back of his hand. He just didn't know a thing about Muggle London.

Add to that the fact that all he knew about Sirius's location was that he was somewhere under a bench, and he was in trouble.

Big trouble.

How was he ever going to find Sirius?

It took what felt like about half an hour of pacing for him to work out his plan. Then it hit him.

_Lily._

Lily knew all about Muggle London; it was the sort of place where her parents took her at weekends. She'd be willing to help Remus – if he didn't tell her that it was for Sirius. But that was fine – he'd keep it from her that it was for Sirius until it was too late, and after that… He'd just have to try not to feel too guilty.

All he had to do now was to find Lily.


	3. Lily

**So here's chapter 3! Sorry for not updating in a while, I've had exams and all that. On the topic, good luck to everyone with exams at the moment!**

**Unfortunately I can only dream of coming anywhere near owning Harry Potter.**

**Please R/R!**

**-394 :)**

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**WOLFSBANE**

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**Chapter 3**

**Lily**

Despite it being a Sunday, the Hogwarts Great Hall filled up quickly for breakfast. Granted, it wasn't half as busy as on a week day, but even still, most students were there, bleary-eyed and filling up on pancakes.

Remus, however, hadn't touched his cereal. He was too busy scanning the sea of faces for a shock of red hair and piercing green eyes which he still could feel seeing right into his thoughts.

It took a while, and the only reason Remus noticed Lily was because of the noticeable change in James's height when she walked in.

As per usual, Lily had a smile on her face as she sat down and began to serve herself. If only she didn't have a hoard of friends surrounding her…

Next to Remus, James was running a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it look messy; Peter, sat opposite James and shovelling down pancakes quicker than Remus had previously thought possible, was not impressed.

'Really, Jamie? _Really? _You do that every morning, it's not going to help.'

'Shut it, Pete.'

Peter shrugged and went back to his pancakes.

James sighed and looked back over at Lily. 'Why do they come in packs?'

Remus shook his head. 'I have no idea.'

'I wasn't talking to you.'

'What?'

'You're still a git.'

'Why are you even angry at me?'

'Stop with your,' James flailed his hands about in an attempt to gesticulate, 'logic and all that. It's not helping.'

'Fine.'

'Fine.'

'Why are _you_ saying fine?'

'Logic. Remember?'

'Sorry.'

Remus poked his cereal – now soggy – with his spoon, wondering how on earth he was going to get Lily to come with him when he couldn't even talk to her.

As it turned out, he didn't need to.

'Remus?'

Remus gulped down his pumpkin juice and looked up. 'Lily!'

'…You seem pleased to see me.'

James nearly choked on his cereal; Lily pretended not to notice and Remus slapped him on the arm.

'Er… Lily, I've got a favour to ask you.'

'Actually, I've got a favour to ask you as well. You go first.'

'No, no, after you.'

Lily sighed. 'I really don't want to have to say this in front of-' She jerked her head in the direction of James, who was arguing in whispers with Peter about the way he acted in front of Lily.

Remus smiled in what he hoped was a sympathetic way. 'I know what you mean. It's fine,' he added, grabbing a piece of fresh bread and standing up, 'Let's go somewhere else.'

'Thanks,' Lily replied, smiling at Remus, and, ignoring the look on James's face, they made their way out of the Great Hall and into one of the emptier corridors. Neither of them knew where they were going: they just walked amiably, anxiously and aimlessly until Lily decided to voice her problem.

'This is going to sound really stupid, but…' She broke off, biting her lip. Remus frowned.

'What's wrong?'

'It's Defence Against the Dark Arts. I can do every other lesson, but not Defence, and I don't know why. It's never been like this before now, and I feel like I know what it is, but I just try to do the spells and-'

She broke off again, and Remus realised that there were tears in her eyes. 'Lily-'

'I'm sorry. I know that I should get a grip, but… Will you help me with it?'

'Of course I will.'

'Thanks.'

Silence. Remus was wondering what to say to comfort his friend, and how to bring up the rather more pressing issue of Sirius being stuck under a random bench in Muggle London.

'So…' That was Lily, bringing Remus out of his reverie. 'What was your problem?'

'Oh,' said Remus, faking a calm tone of voice. 'That. I was wondering… Er….'

Lily was smiling at him, expectantly. Remus swallowed.

'Do you know your way around Muggle London?'

Lily looked taken aback. 'Like the back of my hand, but… Why?'

'This will sound strange.'

'Go for it.'

'I need you to come with me to Muggle London.'

Lily looked even more confused. 'Now?'

'Now. Er… There's something I need to do. Preferably within the next…' He checked his watch. 'Half an hour.'

'Remus, we can't get to Muggle London in half an hour.' She seemed to have gotten over her Defence problem extraordinarily quickly, and was now looking at him with a strange expression on her face.

'Not unless we Apparate.'

'_What?_'

'There are plenty of House Elves in the kitchens who would be willing to get us there. That's not my problem. The problem is-'

'Remus, I'm confused.'

He turned to her, put off his stride.

'You're not telling me anything. Why do you want to go to London in the first place? Knowing you, it's probably not to see the sights-'

'No, of course not-'

'Then why? And why now?'

There was nothing for it but to tell her.

'How do I explain this…? Well, you see, Lily – er – it's Sirius. He tried to do me a favour yesterday which involved going to London, and ended up sleeping rough under some bench. And I've promised to go and get him back, but I don't know a thing about Muggle London. Which is why I need you.'

Lily's eyes had widened and she was frowning, but she slowly nodded. 'OK. That explains a lot.'

'Sirius did it for me, so I've got to go get him back, and you can probably tell why I'm not telling James…'

'Yeah, I can work that out. He'll blame you, right?' Remus nodded. 'And you didn't want him to put me off?'

Remus was constantly amazed by her ability to guess what people were thinking.

Lily nodded. 'Don't worry. I'll help you – I don't hate Sirius _that _much. Just… don't tell James I helped you. Or Sirius. I can't bear the thought of him thinking I might actually _like _them.'

'That sounds terrible,' Remus laughed.

'You give me your word not to tell them, then?'

'My word that I won't reveal how nice you are?'

Lily sighed.

'Of course I won't tell them.'

'Thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

'You know,' Lily said, checking her watch, 'we should probably get going.'

Remus checked his own watch.

They had twenty minutes.

'Oh, Merlin, yes. To the kitchens?'

'To the kitchens.'


End file.
